looks a touch dodgy when team contacts use aol, hotmail and yahoo email addresses. I was a bit excited (well, it caught my eye seeing as I don't live there and wouldn't have seen a game anyway) to notice a team for Calgary (the Drillers) but I guess they folded, over the weekend, before playing a game and are now the Visalia Dawgs. This week, at least.

This league wont last the whole season that it has scheduled. The post Isiah CBA has be on the Rebound and have been slowly trying to grow back to what they once were. The ABA, in alot of people's eyes are being really reckless in thier expansion. They are going for quanity rather than quality.

FYI... Last I heard on local sports radio was the Drillers were going to be playing this season in Calgary. The only issue earlier was whether or not they they would have their house in order in time for this season. The whole concept seems a little fishy though. I heard Joe Newman, the American Basketball Association's CEO on the radio on the way home on Wed. swear that Calgary would play this year. He gave a whole speal on how this league was different that any other. The Coles notes version is... each team keeps all of their money locally and don't have to pay anything to the league. The league level is funded by national broadcasting revenues (99% of that is radio). Therefore if the local teams do what they can to keep costs down then they can make money because there was no huge buy in the get the team (see $10,000) in the first place, and they don't have any revenue siphoned off the top by the league as a whole.

I always said that the NBA should have bought the rights to the ABA and merged the CBA and NBDL into it and made the ABA into the main feeder league. Get some former NBA players involved along with minority candidates with a proven business track record, and it would have a very good shot at working. However, this business plan is going to implode well before the end of the season. Frankly, it would shock me if they made it into the New Year.

The "pre Isaiah" CBA was in the position to become a viable feeder league for the NBA. Had they been given the proper support from the NBA back then, we wouldnt have the situation we have now.. To make money, a team has to put a good team on the floor. Historically the minor bb leagues in the states havent been able to compete with teams over seas in salaries. A player can go to Europe and make much more then he could in the ABA or the CBA. The only advantage of the CBA or other minor leagues have is that they can be scouted by the NBA much easier over here!